Crimson Rain
by grays
Summary: This is about a story that involves the 9 Genins saving Konoha from the attack of unknown ninjas.
1. A New Mission

Disclaimer: i do not own the characters.

* * *

Crimson Rain.

Main Characters:

Team 7 Uzumaki Naruto Haruno Sakura Uchiha Sasuke - Hatake Kakashi

Team 8 Hyuuga Hinata Inuzuka Kiba Aburame Shino - Yuuhi Kurenai

Team 10 Yamanaka Ino Nara Shikamaru Akimichi Chouji - Sarutobi Asuma

Guest Characters:

Nara Shikato

* * *

Prologue

Scene: Hidden Village of Konoha. Jounin Meeting Room. Night.

Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma are seated around a table. "Kurenai, feeling ready for tomorrow? You'll have a big responsibility." Asuma asked. Kurenai replied, "Tomorrow will be a big event. I have got to prepare. I'll be going off first. Ja-ne!" Kurenai left. "Remember to meet tomorrow at 0500." Kakashi reminded Asuma boredly and teleported away.

* * *

Chapter 1

Scene: Hidden Village of Konoha. Naruto's bedroom. At 3 a.m.

Screams and shouts can be heard. Suddenly, a shuriken flew through Naruto's window and landed next to Naruto's head. This caused Naruto to awake.

"Waaaah! Nahn desuka?! What is going on?" Naruto shouted. Just as he peered out of the window, a kunai flew towards Naruto's head. Before Naruto could react, a shuriken hit the kunai and pinned it on the wall. Then, a voice could be heard, "Naruto! Get back in!". The owner of the voice pushes Naruto back into his room.

"Sasuke! What are you doing here?" inquired Naruto. "Baka. Can't you see that we are in a war?" Sasuke replied, feeling irritated with Naruto. "Nani?!" was all that came out of Naruto's mouth.

"I found Kakashi-sensei and he told me to get you and Sakura. Let's go!" Sasuke jumped out of the window as he said that. "Chotto matte! I've not change out of my pyjamas!"

* * *

Scene: Hidden Village of Konoha. Nara Household.

Shikato and Shikamaru were protecting their wife/mother respectively. "Shikamaru! Be prepared for any danger!" Shikato reminded his son. "Yeah, sure pops. This is so troublesome." Just then, a kunai flew in through the window straight towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru was about to dodge when Shikato jumped in front and caught it between his fingers. "See what I mean by being alert? Stay with me and protect your mother." Suddenly, a group of ninjas jumped into the Nara Household.

"Shikamaru! Protect your mother! Leave these ninjas to me! Kageshibari No Jutsu!" Shikato shouted to his son as he performed the shadow bind technique to restrict the enemies' silhouettes.

But due to the previous attacks, Shikato has lost a huge amount of chakra and is running low on it. The shadow bind technique is beginning to lose its effect and soon, then ninjas were able to move freely again.

"Prepare to die! Troops! Attack!" Unknown ninja #1 commanded his troops.

The group of unknown ninjas started attacking Shikato with their kunais. He was able to hold on for a while. But due to his weariness, Shikato couldn't hold on and was stabbed to death.

Shikamaru screamed in shock, "Otou-saan!"

Shikamaru then threw shurikens towards the unknown ninjas but they were easily blocked off. The unknown ninjas got angry and started attacking Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru! Run! Gather with your other teammates outside!" A voice suddenly called out.

It was his sensei's.

Shikamaru ignored his sensei's instructions and kneeled down beside his father's body. He stared at it. Tears started to drop from his eyes.

"Shikamaru! What is the rule?! Show no emotions at all times! A ninja has to complete he's mission right until the end! Mourn all you want after this ends! Konoha is in grave danger right now! Your father died a honorable death!" Asuma chided Shikamaru in a pitiful tone.

Shikamaru did not reply his teacher and just went out to gather with his teammates.

"_Shikamaru, prove that you're not just made of IQ." _Asuma thought worriedly.

* * *

Scene: Training area, forest

"I must finish this 500 kicks! This is my way of ninja!" Hinata shouted to herself as she trained. As she said this, she was thinking of Naruto. "_Naruto-kun, I wonder how you are."_

Suddenly Hinata heard footsteps. She readied herself with the Hyuuga Clan stance as she thought there was danger.

"Hinata! Stay where you are! It's Kiba and Shino!" a voice rang out.

"Kiba? Shino? Why were both of you running?" Hinata asked puzzled as her two teammates stopped in front of her.

"Away from the insane! There are lots of unknown ninjas attacking Konoha!" Shino said as he stopped.

"Yeah, we received instructions from Kurenai-sensei to gather here. But we had to find you first. We searched your house but no one was in there. So we figured you might be here." Kiba told Hinata. As they were talking, more footsteps could be heard.

"Sakura-chan! Hurry up! If not the ninjas will catch up!" A voice shouted. "_That sounds like..." _Hinata thought.

"Wakata Naruto!" Sakura shouted back to the voice. "_What the heck does he take me for?!"_

When Team 7 saw Hinata, Kiba, Shino, they were surprised. "Nani?! Why are you all gathered here too?" Naruto asked them.

More footsteps were heard. The faces of the footsteps slowly appeared

"Why were you all running away from us? We were shouting your names!" Chouji asked heatedly.

"Hee-hee. Gomen-nasai. I thought you all were the unknown ninjas chasing us." Naruto replied apologetically.

"Sasuke-kun! Why didn't you respond to my call?" Ino asked her crush. But Sasuke glared at Ino and did not answer her question.

"_Ahhh! Sasuke-kun is looking at me!" _Ino thought excitedly to herself. Sasuke ignores Ino and asked the other genins, "Are all of you gathered here by the orders of your senseis? Did they ask you to wait for them here?"

"Hai." All the genins except for Naruto and Sakura replied.

* * *

Scene: Jounin Meeting Point

Kurenai told the other two Jounins, "Well, it's all done here, lets go check on our teams." The 3 Jounins teleported to the training grounds.

Scene: Training area. Forest

The 9 Genins were sitted in their own personal space in the forest. Ino and Sakura are obviously trying to get close to the pacing Sasuke. The 3 Jounins finally arrived. "Yo Genins." Kakashi said in a hip tone.

"Kakashi-sensei! Anything so serious that you're not reading 'icha icha paradise'?" Naruto asked his sensei jokingly.

"Cut the crap. All Genins, please gather around us." Asuma said seriously. All the Genins gathered around Asuma. "Okay. I know that you all are wondering why we gathered you here. The reason is, we have a mission for you."

"Nani! A mission in the middle of chaos?!" Naruto asked. "Shut up Naruto! You're interrupting Asuma-sensei!" Sakura scolded Naruto. He immediately kept quiet.

"As i was saying, we have a mission for you. An A rank mission." Asuma continued.

"We are only Genins! What can we do? I mean, yeah, we've been through the Chunnin exam, but we didn't exactly pass it did we?" Naruto interrupted again. "Naruto! Stop interrupting! Anyway, yeah, you didn't pass it. But this is a great opportunity to train and to save Konoha!" Kakashi scolded Naruto.

Naruto made a face at Kakashi's back. "_Giggles. Naruto-kun is so cute!" _Hinata thought to herself.

"So, the mission goes like this. You all will try in your own ways to save Konoha. Fight with the Hokage, kill the enemies, whatever. And one more thing. You all must be separated in groups and you cannot be of the same team. Get it? That's all for now, disperse!"

The 9 Genins were discussing which group they should be in when the 3 Jounins teleported away.

"Heehee. Sakura! I get to be with Sasuke-kun!" Ino teased Sakura.

Ino runs towards Sasuke to stand beside him. When Ino reaches, Sasuke walks away "_Sasuke-kun! Why are you so shy? Kawaii!" _Ino thought.

"Shino?" Sasuke called.

"Okay. We need to get a girl. The only one left is..." Shino was telling Sasuke when he saw Ino walk towards Sasuke and him. "Speak of the devil."

(Team A: Sasuke, Shino, Ino)

"If that's Team A, then our teams would be more or less decided." Sakura announced to the others.

(Team B: Kiba, Chouji, Sakura. Team C: Shikamaru, Naruto, Hinata.)

"_I get to be in the same team as Naruto-kun!" _Hinata told herself happily.

"Let's go!" Sasuke said. The 3 teams disappeared to their own spaces.

Scene: Entrance of Konoha

"Let's go excavate the women and children shall we?" Sakura asked her new team. "_I would have prefered a more action-packed activity. But, i've got two lousy members with me. Well, what can i do?" _Kiba thought.

* * *

This is another fic of mine . i actually wrote this before the 'Naruto Takes Over' but posted it later than it. Read and review! Arigatou!


	2. Fight With Itachi

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

Crimson Rain.

Main Characters:

Team 7 Uzumaki Naruto Haruno Sakura Uchiha Sasuke - Hatake Kakashi

Team 8 Hyuuga Hinata Inuzuka Kiba Aburame Shino - Yuuhi Kurenai

Team 10 Yamanaka Ino Nara Shikamaru Akimichi Chouji - Sarutobi Asuma

Guest Characters:

Uchiha Itachi

Scene: Entrance of Konoha

"Let's go excavate the women and children shall we?" Sakura asked her new team._ "I would have preferred a more action-packed activity. But, I've got two lousy members with me. Well, what can I do?" _Kiba thought.

Chapter 2

"Okay, so I'll go to the hospital while Chouji-san goes to the academy and Kiba-san you'll go to the villagers' houses. Is that alright?" Sakura questioned her new teammates.

"Hai!" the other two teammates consented as they departed in separate ways.

Scene: Villager's house #1

"Hey! Please leave the house quickly! This is an excavation!" Kiba shouted to the residents in the house.

The people quickly ran out of the house. "Who is that boy? He's so weird. His tone doesn't even sound like he's serious in excavating us. Is he toying around with us!"

Kiba walked to the other villagers' houses and excavated them with the same tone. He was about to excavate another house when he heard a shriek. He ran towards the screech and saw an unknown ninja torturing a young lady. "Yosh! This is my chance! Let's go Akamaru!"

"Hey you! Leave her alone!"

"Eh? Who are you to command me little boy!"

Being called a little boy pissed Kiba off.

"Who are you calling a little boy!" Kiba said as he went on fours and did a tiger hand seal. "Gijyuu Ninpou Shikyaku no Jutsu!" Kiba's nails grew longer and chakra could be seen molding from his body. He ran towards the unknown ninja and tried scratching and punching him. But he missed as the shinobi dodged.

"Ha! You'll never beat me. Your Jutsu is pretty impressive, pity you used it against me." The shinobi mocked Kiba.

"Nani! How can you insult my skills! Grrr... I'll show you my real strength!" Kiba took some smoke bombs out from his pouch and threw it towards his enemy. "Akamaru!" Kiba shouted to his dog. The dog barked to show that he understood.

Kiba ran into the smoke and started to punch his enemy. "Damn it! I can't see in this smoke. I have to get out!" The unknown ninja thought. He ran out just to see Akamaru jump on him and he fell back into the smoke. Kiba punched him a few more times, grabbed Akamaru, and left the smoke. He waited for the smoke to subside to see his enemy lying on the floor.

"Heh. So, who is lousy now? Are you any better? If you are, then show me!" Kiba taunted the shinobi.

The shinobi stood up. "Not bad kid. Since you ask for it, I shall show you." The shinobi bit his finger and did boar, dog, bird, monkey and ram hand seals. Then he put his palm on the ground and shouted, "Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

A beautiful dragon with flames appeared and perched itself on its owner's arm. "This is my specialty! Eat this! Karyuu! (I couldn't think of any other nice names for a dragon. )" The dragon roared and charged towards Kiba, burning him.

"Arghh!" Kiba screamed in pain and retreated from the creature.

"So, who is lousy now?"

Scene: Sasuke, Shino, and Ino

"_This must be his doings. I must find a way to stop him."_ Sasuke thought to himself grimly. "Shino, Ino! Both of you shall go help the citizens!"

"Hai!" they went their ways.

"I have to find you... Itachi..." Sasuke rushed off to find Itachi.

Scene: Kiba against the shinobi

Kiba grinned to himself. "Akamaru!" He shouted as he threw a pill that he took from his pouch. Akamaru ate it which made him grow red and monstrous. Kiba bent down in a four legged position and Akamaru climbed on top of him. He did a tiger hand seal. "Gijyuu Ninpou Jyuujin Bunshin!"

Akamaru transformed into an exact replica of Kiba.

"Gatsunga!" Akamaru and Kiba turned spun as fast as tornadoes and charged straight at the shinobi. He was shocked, but recovered fast. Karyuu blew a horrendous amount of fire at Kiba and Akamaru.

Both were burnt and had to stop. Kiba bent down and panted. The unknown ninja, took the advantage, beat him and Akamaru up really bad until they lost consciousness.

"Too bad, you lost." With that, the shinobi disappeared in a gust of smoke.

"Where is he!" Sasuke cursed as he jumped from tree to tree. Finally, he spotted a dark haired guy wearing a flowery cloak. "Aha!"

"Itachi! This is all your doings. Stop it!" Sasuke shouted at his brother after he landed on the ground.

"Stop your whining Sasuke. What doings? What misfortune happened? I don't even know!"

"Don't act dumb!" Sasuke gritted his teeth. He reached for a kunai in his pouch and charged at Itachi.

Sasuke tried desperately to slash his brother with the kunai in his hand. Itachi easily dodged it and grabbed Sasuke's hands to stop his attempts. He punched Sasuke in the stomach and sent him flying to a tree trunk. Sasuke slid to the floor. He lay on the floor, groaning in pain.

"Foolish little brother. Don't you know that you can never defeat me unless your abilities surpass mine?" Itachi walked slowly towards Sasuke and kneeled down beside him. "I really have nothing to do with whatever you think I have done."

"Liar!" Sasuke suddenly punched Itachi in the face without any warning.

Itachi massaged the spot where Sasuke punched him. "So this is how you really think of me..." Itachi thought disappointingly.

"It's so weird. Sasuke-kun asked us to help the citizens. It isn't like him." Ino thought worriedly. She headed back from the direction she came from and met Shino on the way. "Ino, you're worried about Sasuke too eh?"

"Yes." Ino felt uncomfortable talking to Shino as she rarely did to him.

"Okay, let's go."

And they jumped up to the trees and tried searching for Sasuke.

"You're too weak to defeat me, little brother." Itachi sneered at Sasuke. "You have to become stronger and right now, you're too weak to even spill blood out of me."

"Arghhhhhhh! I'll prove you wrong!" Sasuke ran around Itachi to gain momentum. At the same time, energy that looked somewhat like electricity formed in Sasuke's hands. He charged straight at his brother with hatred.

thanks takeshi-chan for editing the mistakes for chapter. arigatou! pls RR.


	3. Agony

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters

* * *

Crimson Rain.

Main Characters:

Team 7 Uzumaki Naruto Haruno Sakura Uchiha Sasuke - Hatake Kakashi

Team 8 Hyuuga Hinata Inuzuka Kiba Aburame Shino - Yuuhi Kurenai

Team 10 Yamanaka Ino Nara Shikamaru Akimichi Chouji - Sarutobi Asuma

Guest Characters:

Nara Shikato

Uchiha Itachi

Tsunade

Shizune

* * *

"You're too weak to defeat me, little brother." Itachi sneered at Sasuke. "You have to become stronger and right now, you're too weak to even spill blood out of me."

"Arghhhhhhh! I'll prove you wrong!" Sasuke ran around Itachi to gain momentum. At the same time, energy that looked somewhat like electricity formed in Sasuke's hands. He charged straight at his brother with hatred.

* * *

Chapter 3

Itachi stood there yawning. "I've seen this move before. Seems like you haven't grown stronger since the last time."

Sasuke did not say anything, but ran around even faster around Itachi. Soon, dust formed around them. Sasuke suddenly jumped out from the dust and charged at Itachi. "CHIDORI!"

Itachi grabbed Sasuke's hand and the electricity grew weaker and weaker and stopped. Itachi then flung Sasuke away easily. Sasuke's back hit the wall; however he did not give up. He charged at Itachi with a kunai in his hand.

He tried stabbing Itachi with the kunai. But everytime he did, Itachi doged his attacks easily. "Why aren't you retaliating! Come on! Fight me!"

Itachi did not answer his question and continued dodging. This caused Sasuke to fling his kunai restlessly and with more angst.

"What! Are you scared of me now!" Sasuke tried to taunt him.

Itachi stopped dodging and grabbed his right wrist. He twisted it and flung him to the wall.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke screamed in pain.

Itachi walked towards him. Sasuke tried to get back on his feet by pushing himself up with his hands. As he bent his right wrist, he suddenly sensed the excruciating pain of his broken wrist. He fell back on the floor. Seeing that he could not get back on his feet, Sasuke tried to throw the kunai he was holding at Itachi when he stood next to him. But he again dodged it easily.

Itachi stepped on Sasuke's stomach. "Look, I told you. I did not do what you thought I did. What war? I see no war. I just see you trying to kill me. What for? Because I killed the clan? Because I killed _daddy_ and _mummy?_" He emphasized.

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke shouted angrily. "You were the talk of the clan! Everyone was proud of you! How could you kill them!"

"And did you feel proud for me? Did you feel good that everybody was proud of me for my achievements?" Itachi said softly.

"What?" Sasuke asked surprised. "Of course -" But he was cut off by Itachi.

"You did not feel good, am I right? You always wanted everyone to recognize you as who you are, and not Itachi's _little _brother right?" Itachi said in a louder tone now.

"NO! I always-" But Sasuke was cut off by Itachi again.

"I knew you did not feel good. I knew you wanted to be recognized as yourself although you looked up to me. Every time someone asks you, 'Hi, Sasuke-chan. Where's your brother? I have not seen him around lately' you would feel a little down won't you? I knew. I have always loved you Sasuke, I tried to take care of you however I could. I did not train with you because I wanted you to be strong on your own. I wanted you to be independent. I killed the clan for you." Itachi looked at Sasuke, hoping that he would understand his brotherly love for him.

"NO! Stop! Don't say anymore! I'll fight you!" Sasuke took another kunai from his pouch and tried in vain to stab Itachi with his left hand.

Itachi opened his mouth to say something. However, he heard footsteps approaching. Without saying anything else, he teleported away.

"NO! Come back here!" Sasuke shouted at the air. He saw two figures approaching. As they came closer he saw that the two figures belonged to Shino and Ino.

When both of them saw Sasuke lying on the ground, they ran even faster.

"Oh my God! Sasuke! Are you alright?" Ino asked both in shock and concern. She tried to hold Sasuke's right hand. He seethed in pain and used his left arm to push away Ino.

"Go away! Didn't I tell both of you to go and help the citizens! Why are both of you here!" Sasuke shouted angrily.

"We were worried about you Sasuke!" Ino started to say.

"I don't need your help! I was perfectly alright!" Sasuke picked himself up slowly and started walking away.

"Look, we were really concerned about you. You don't have to shout at us because of that right?" Shino grabbed Sasuke's elbow.

Sasuke tried to fling his grip away, but his grip tightened.

* * *

Scene: Naruto Hinata Shikamaru

"Ano.. what should we do? The rest of the teams have already gone to rescue the villagers' Hinata said nervously to Naruto and Shikamaru.

"I know!" Naruto suddenly jumped up excitedly. "Let's go find Tsunade baa-chan and help her fight! Agree? Okay! Silence means consent!"

They headed towards the Hokage Tower.

* * *

When they reached, Naruto pushed open the door. The door fell onto the ground. They saw that the Hokage Tower was in a mess. Many broken pieces from the wall and blood was on the floor.

"Tsunade baa-chan!" Naruto shouted worriedly and they ran to her office.

They pushed open the door and found Tsunade healing Shizune.

"Shizune nee-san! Are you okay?" Naruto asked, looking worried. "Is she okay?" he turned and looked at Tsunade hopefully.

"Yes, she is fine." Tsunade answered shortly, busy with healing her attendant.

"What happened?" Hinata asked curiously.

"3 ninjas wearing a question mark on their forehead protector barged into my office. They were not weak, they were not normal Chuunis or Jounins. They were Sages. They said that they wanted to assassinate the Hokage, so Shizune protected me. She got heavily injured by them. I took over and punched one of them. They were frightened of my monstrous strength and took off." Tsunade told them exactly what happened.

"We must find them and stop them!" Naruto shouted in anger.

"Shhh! Not so loud Naruto! Shizune is resting!" Tsunade scolded Naruto. "Okay. But I'll need someone to stay and look after Shizune."

"I'll stay. I don't really feel like fighting." Shikamaru said softly.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked worriedly. But Tsunade said, "Okay. Please take care of her, Shikamaru."

With that, Tsunade, Naruto and Hinata took off to find the 3 Sages from the village of the unknown.

* * *

They soon caught up with the 3 Sages. Then Tsunade, Naruto, Hinata and the 3 Sages stopped at a shore.

"Come! Fight us! You shall pay for what you did to Shizune nee-san!" Naruto shouted at them.

"Shizune nee-san? Oh… that black haired weak girl?" One of the Sages sneered.

"She is not weak!" Naruto shouted angrily.

"Okay, since you want to fight, we'll challenge you!" The Sages said and they each took one of them and transported them somewhere else.

* * *

Scene: Tsunade and Sage #1

"My name is Houkou. The beast inside of me can cause catastrophic damage its tails are used."

* * *

Scene: Naruto and Sage #2

"My name is Isonade. The beast inside me is able to generic water powers."

* * *

Scene: Hinata and Sage #3

"My name is Nekomata. The beast inside me is a necromancer. It is able to call upon the dead and control them."

* * *

Scene: Shikamaru with Shizune in Tsunade's office

"This war thing is so troublesome. So many are injured." Shikamaru looked at Shizune. "And so many are dead."

_Dead. Otou-saan is dead. Why? I don't understand. 'Your father died an honorable death'? What concept is that? Otou-saan.. how could you leave me alone? We used to have so much fun together, lying on the grass, side by side, watching the clouds together. I had so much fun carrying you home when you were drunk because you drank too much with Chouji's dad. I had so much fun going fishing with you, even though I did not like it. I had so much fun, spending time with you._

He closed his eyes, trying to fight back his tears. Suddenly, he could hear Shizune moving. She was conscious.

"Where is Tsunade-sama? What are you doing here?" Shizune inquired weakly.

"They left to go after the ninjas who attacked you." Shikamaru told her.

"They?"

"Yes, Naruto and Hinata. Together with Hokage-sama."

Suddenly, a group of unknown ninjas appeared.

"Look out, Shikamaru!" Shizune pointed at his back.

Shikamaru saw the look in her eyes – worried. He was reminded on his father's eyes before he was stabbed to death.

They had the same eyes.

* * *

Thank you for the wait! I'm so sorry for not updating for almost a year! LOLS. Anyway, credits tonarutofan forumfor the infomation. And HaMsAe as my beta-reader! Please R&R aft the long break!


	4. Standing Up Again

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters

Crimson Rain.

Main Characters:

Team 7 Uzumaki Naruto Haruno Sakura Uchiha Sasuke - Hatake Kakashi

Team 8 Hyuuga Hinata Inuzuka Kiba Aburame Shino - Yuuhi Kurenai

Team 10 Yamanaka Ino Nara Shikamaru Akimichi Chouji - Sarutobi Asuma

Guest Characters:

Tsunade

Shizune

Mrs Nara

Nara Shikato

* * *

Suddenly, a group of unknown ninjas appeared.

"Look out, Shikamaru!" Shizune pointed at his back.

Shikamaru saw the look in her eyes – worried. He was reminded on his father's eyes before he was stabbed to death.

They had the same eyes.

* * *

Chapter 4

"Hai!" Shikarmaru replied Shizune and got ready to fight the unknown ninjas. He took out two kunais from his pouch and held one in each hand. He charged at one of the ninjas and skillfully escaped his grasp and pierced him in the stomach. Then he proceeded to fight the rest of the ninjas. When he finally defeated them all, he told Shizune that he will be going off to protect his mother. Because that was what his father told him to do before he died.

"Will you be fine alone?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Just remember, no matter what happens, you have to carry on. You cannot live with the guilt or the pain and shut yourself from the whole world, because many people still cares for you."

Shikamaru gave a small nod and ran towards his household.

* * *

Scene: Nara Household

"Okaa-san! I'm back!" Shikamaru called out to his mother. There was no reply. He looked around the house and saw much debris and he's father's dead body. He closed his eyes and fought away the thoughts in his mind. He walked to the kitchen. As he was walking, he saw a trail of dried blood.

He immediately ran into the kitchen. He fell to his knees when he saw the sight of his mother's body lying on the floor.

"OKAA-SAN!" Shikamaru screamed as tears flowed from his eyes.

_This can't be true! No! Both my parents died! _

Then he realized –

_He told me to protect okaa-san. But I did not. I was dragged away by sensei instead of staying to finish the shinobis off. It was my fault! They must have killed okaa-san when I was away!_

He bowed his head even lower and more tears flowed freely from his eyes.

* * *

Scene: Sasuke Ino Shino

Sasuke tried to fling his grip away, but his grip tightened.

"Let go Shino!" Sasuke yelled.

"No. I insist that you apologise. We came all the way here to see if you were okay and this is how you treat us?"

"What could happen to me? After all, I'm strong enough to protect myself."

"Enough!" Ino suddenly shouted above both Sasuke's and Shino's argument. She grabbed Shino's hand and broke the grip between Shino and Sasuke. Then she went to hold Sasuke's hands.

"Sasuke-kun! Please, calm -"

"Let go." He said as he brushed Ino's hands away.

Before he knew it he felt a punch land on his face – it was Shino's punch.

"Baka! What are you doing!" Sasuke shouted at him.

He readied himself in a fighting stance and took out a kunai from his pouch. Shino did the same thing. However, Sasuke held his kunai with his left hand (Right wrist injured)

Sasuke managed to block Shino's attacks, although his blocks. After a while, he got used to using his left hand, and began to attack Shino.

Ino did not know what to do and tried to stop the fight. But she ended up getting a scratch from Sasuke's attacks. "Ouch!"

"Ino!" Shino looked in her direction, concerned.

"You don't have time to look away dobe!" Sasuke yelled at him and slash him in the arm. Blood oozed from Shino's injured arm.

"Why, you -" Shino started.

But Sasuke did not give him the time and liberty to talk. He immediately charged at Shino with his kunai. Shino barely had time to defend himself and was thrown back as he landed on the floor.

"Look! You can't even defend yourself, so don't come thinking that you can defeat me!" Sasuke retorted.

Shino picked himself up and spoke calmly, "Why aren't you using your right hand since it's stronger?"

_Damn! If he knows that I have a broken right wrist, I'll have a big disadvantage! _"You don't have to know!" Sasuke spat.

"I see." Shino replied calmly. _Something must be wrong with his right side of the body. And I must find out what._

Shino charged towards Sasuke's right side. Before Sasuke could react, Shino grabbed his shoulder and flung him hard away.

_Nope, not the shoulder._

"What the hell do you think you are doing!" Sasuke growled and took a few shurikens out.

He tried in vain to hit Shino with the shurikens as his aiming with his left hand is not good.

_He's not forming seals, nor is he attacking me with his famous ShiShi Rendan (Lion Combo). I see. It must be his wrist which is hurting._

Shino charged towards Sasuke's right side again. However this time Sasuke blocked it easily. "I don't know exactly what you're doing, but the same trick won't work on me twice!"

_Damn, I must try a different approach.

* * *

_

Scene: Nara household

"OTOU-SAN! OKAA-SAN! I **WILL **AVENGE YOU!" Shikamaru screamed to the empty house as tears flowed even more freely down his face.

He picked himself up from the floor.

"_Yes, I'll be fine. Just remember, no matter what happens, you have to carry on. You cannot live with the guilt or the pain and shut yourself from the whole world, because many people still cares for you."_

"People who cares for me huh?"

"_Are you sure?" Naruto asked worriedly.  
Otou-san, Okaa-san._

"Yes, that's right. So many people cares about me... I cannot just break down here."

_Just remember, no matter what happens, you have to carry on.  
Just remember, no matter what happens, you have to carry on.  
Just remember, no matter what happens, you have to carry on.  
Just remember, no matter what happens, you have to carry on.  
Just remember, no matter what happens, you have to carry on.  
Just remember, no matter what happens, you have to carry on._

Those words of Shizune kept ringing in Shikamaru's head. He clenched his fist and said confidently, "Yes, I'll will carry on. Yosh!"

With that, he ran out of his house.

* * *

Scene: Chouji at the academy

"Hn? All the children and Iruka-sensei seems to have escaped already. Ah! Iruka-sensei. He's smart enough to have brought the kids to a safe place. Right, now I shall help Kiba excavate the villagers.

Chouji walked along the path and took out a packet of BBQ potato chips. As he walked, he ate and thought.

_I wonder how the rest are doing – Ino, Shikamaru. And the other teams._

Soon he reached the residential area. He saw that the place was quite in a mess. "Kiba!" He shouted as he ran around the area, scanning for Kiba.

Then he spotted Kiba lying on the floor with an unconscious Akamaru on Kiba's chest.

"Kiba! Wake up! Are you okay?"

"Aaahhh." Kiba slowly stirred. "Huh? Chouji? What are you doing here? Ouch!"

"Your wounds aren't small; we better go to the hospital and see if we can bandage you up." With that, Chouji put Kiba's arm over his shoulder, carried Akamaru with his other hand and headed towards the hospital.

When they reached, they saw Sakura in the storage room. "Ah! There you all are, I figured that some of us might be injured due to this war, so I was packing things up. I'm just about to finish."

"Kiba is heavily injured!" Chouji pointed Sakura out.

"Oh, gosh! He's in a bad shape! Okay, put him on the bed. I'll try some skills that I have learnt from Go-daime."

She moulded chakra on both of her hands and placed them above Kiba.

_Argh, he's injuries are too serious._

_Concentrate  
Concentrate  
I can do it  
Concentrate  
Concentrate

* * *

_

Scene: Sasuke Ino Shino

"What are you thinking, you bug-freak!" Sasuke shouted over to Shino. "Surrender? If you want, I won't retaliate." Sasuke slowly put his left hand down. He was very tired due to Itachi's fight and he wasn't use to using his left hand.

"You let your guard down, _Uchiha_." Shino muttered as he suddenly flashed on the right of Sasuke and grabbed his wrist.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke screamed in pain. He immediately used his kunai that he held on his left hand to stab Shino. Shino immediately knocked the kunai out of Sasuke's hand by first blocking the attack and using the back of his own kunai to hit Sasuke's left wrist, causing the kunai to fly out of grip.

"Use your trump card at the end." Shino whispered into Sasuke's ear and twisted his broken wrist again and flung him towards the wall.

* * *

Scene: Hospital

_Concentrate_

_Ahh! He is recovering. It's working!  
Hang on, I feel that somebody else is in need of healing. _

_Concentrate more!  
I need to find out who!_

"Yes! Kiba-san is finally healed!" Sakura exclaimed when she saw his wounds closing.

_Who is it?_

_It feels so familiar._

_Naruto? No_

_No… don't tell me._

_SASUKE –KUN!_

"Chouji-san, Sasuke-kun is need of healing now, would you please find them and bring them to the hospital?"

"Hai."

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, I hope you're alright." Sakura told herself after Chouji left. As she was worrying, she took some of the hospital's bandage to wrap up some of Kiba's deeper wounds.

* * *

Chapter 4 is up!  
Thanks to myself (LOLS) and my beta reader, **Hamsae**!  
Chapter 5 will be up soon too!  
Please** read, **and **review**!  
Thank you very much.


End file.
